How to work long hours and still have a life

Wise strategies make big work and big fun possible

Many years ago, when I was new to writing about work and life, I remembering coming across an argument about why there were never going to be many women at the top of the corporate world. The top jobs, this thesis went, required working at least 50 hours per week. Add on an hour-long commute each way, and to hit 50 hours a ladder-climber would need to be gone from home from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The problem with this? You would basically “never” see your kids.

I have actually seen versions of this argument made by traditionalists who don’t think mothers should be working and by people with impeccable feminist credentials (who are arguing that workplaces should be reformed). While I am more sympathetic to the latter, I think all of this is based on a rather limited view of time — that long hours mean you will never see your kids, or have any other sort of personal life.

For starters, in this scenario, our corporate warrior is gone 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday. Last time I checked, there are seven days in a week, not five. This person could see his or her family, or pursue personal goals, all day long on Saturday and Sunday if desired — a far cry from never. Tuesday is not the only day that counts.

It is also interesting that these scenarios often tack on an hour-long commute too. The average American commute is closer to 26 minutes, which — in a more average set-up — buys us back 5 hours a week for seeing a family or other personal pursuits. Given the number of offices that have people working from home two days a week in this post-Covid era, we might buy back another two hours or so.

Even in the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. scenario, though, I remember scratching my head because at the time I had very young kids and they never slept until 8 a.m. Mine were up by 6 a.m. a great many days, which means that leaving at 8 a.m. (or even 8:30 a.m. with a normal commute) would buy another 2-2.5 hours daily of being home and being around the kids (even if you did wind up showering in there at some point). I’m not sure why this time doesn’t “count,” just because it isn’t at 10 a.m.

All that said, there are still some wise moves one can make to have a full personal life, even if you do work long hours. Some ideas: